Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to data communication networks and devices, and relates more particularly to switch performance in data communications networks.
Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
As information handling systems provide increasingly more central and critical operations in modern society, it is important that the networks are reliable. One method used to improve reliability is to provide redundant links between network devices. By employing redundant links, network traffic between two network devices that would normally be interrupted can be re-routed to the back-up link in the event that the primary link fails.
Although having redundant links is helpful for failover situations, it creates network loops, which can be fatal to networks. To remove the loops, a protocol named Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is often employed. STP is a Layer-2 protocol that runs on network devices, such as bridges and switches, to ensure that loops are not created when there are redundant paths in the network. The result of the STP is that some links are inactive unless a primary link fails. Thus, networks using redundant links with STP have links that are underutilized.
FIG. 1 depicts an example of a networking system 100 that employs Spanning Tree Protocol. Depicted in FIG. 1 is a set of networking devices 105A-105D that are connected to other networks devices 110A and 110B (which may be access switches), which are in turn connected to other network devices 115A and 115B (which may be core switches or routers). The network devices are connected with redundant links. Due to STP, some of the links are active 120 and some of the links are placed into an inactive state 125 to avoid network loops. Because many of the links are placed into an inactive state by the STP, the network capacity is underutilized. To address the limitations of STP, a protocol called the multiple spanning tree protocol (MSTP) was developed by IEEE 802.1 [IEEE 802.1s]. While this protocol allows for more links to be used for forwarding, it still suffers from the limitation of having a loop-free active topology for any given VLAN.
However, ever increasing demands for data have required communication networks to provide more throughput. Not only must networks be reliable, but they must also provide adequate bandwidth. Thus, an area in which communication networks strive to improve is in increasing capacity (data throughput or bandwidth).
One way to increase capacity through recapturing unused network capacity involves improving the performance of Layer 2 switches. Layer 2 switches (L2 switches) are often used for high speed connectivity between end devices such as a router, server, or user PC at the data link layer. In the prior art L2 switches, whenever an L2 switch receives a frame with an unknown destination Media Access Control (MAC) address will be forwarded to all MAC addresses, which leads to unnecessary bandwidth consumption and buffer utilization on the switch and connected end devices.
One disadvantage of the present system is that bandwidth consumption is inefficient.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems and methods that can address the deficiencies and limitations of the current L2 switching protocols.